In this new assessment, published on the occasion of the major 2008 traveling exhibition, renowned experts shed light on the development of Courbet's realistic, critical style and trace his influence on his contemporaries and subsequent generations, as well as his relationship to early photography. At 480 pages, this monumental volume provides a long-overdue reckoning of this great artist's work.

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

ESSAYS

COURBET: UTOPIA VERSUS POLITICS

Bertrand Tillier

REALISM AND AMBIGUITY IN THE PAINTINGS OF GUSTAVE COURBET

Dominique de Font-Reaulx

"IT WAS INEVITABLE BECAUSE IT IS NOT TtlAT WE HAVE ENCOUNTERED EACIt

OTHER, IT IS OUR SOLUTIONS."

Michel Hilaire

A LEGACY OF TRUTtI: THE REFERENCE TO COURBET, FROM MANET TO CEZANNE

Laurence des Cars

A COMPLEX GENESIS: COURBET IN THE LABORATORY

Bruno Mottin

"WHAT NO ONE ELSE SEES": TItE TANGIBLE REALITY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS

OF BALTttASAR BLRKHARD

Dominique de Font-Reaulx

CATALOGUE

1. INVENTING COURBET: THE EARLY SELF-PORTRAITS

2. FROM THE PRIVATE TO TttE HISTORIC

3. MANIFESTOS

4. COURBET THE LANDSCAPIST

5. THE MODERN TEMPTATION

6. THE NUDE: TRADITION TRANSGRESSED

7. THE PAINTER AS MELANCHOLY HUNTER

8. THE EXPERIENCE OF HISTORY: COURBET AND THE COMMUNE

APPENDIXES

CHRONOLOGY

Dominique Lobstein

COURBET ANTHOLOGY:

CORRESPONDENCE, REVIEWS, AND DOCUMENTS

BIBLIOGRAPHY